Sailor Moon: Star Dreamers
by DizBuster
Summary: How far can a guardian fall, before redemption is impossible? Less a story of the Sailor Senshi than one of the latest cadre of 'villains' sent for their blood.
1. Prologue, I: Call to Vengeance

Sailor Moon V: Star Dreamers

Prologue

(Chronicler's Note: The Prologue is, in actuality, quite a ways up the timeline of both the Sailor Moon series and the Star Dreamers series. It takes the form of a series of open letters to the Sailor Scouts, after a good deal of hurting, trouble, and general unhappiness. Each member of the Dream Weaver Senshi has their own chapter in the prologue, and it serves to offer a bit of backstory on the individual Senshi, so you know why they're doing what they do.)

Chapter 1: Call to Vengeance

To any of you who find this letter, you have to know how sorry we are for everything we've done to you. We do not ask your forgiveness. That would be a waste of energy, and I am quite sure many of the crimes we have committed against Tokyo in general, and you in particular, could never be forgiven. Instead, we ask the honor of sitting, for a moment, and taking the time to understand how it all began. As the leader of this group, and arguably the most responsible, I will tell my story first. It seems... fitting... when I was in a position of trust for so long. Anyhow...

My name was Akiyo Natsume.

I lived in what had come to be known by my time as the Dreamscape, in the Lotus Mountain region. I was the only daughter and heiress to a very important duty, to be the Guardian Senshi of my region, and keep at bay the forces of the Nightmare Hordes.

My childhood could be described as idyllic, I suppose. Given that I was being groomed from the moment I could walk, to take up the mantle of a very dangerous and difficult position. However, you must understand, I revered my mother. It was my dream, my only wish, that I follow in her footsteps. To that end, I practiced, unfailingly, every day, working harder than most children could, to develop the powers of sleep that were my birthright. I learned well, too, and upon my twentieth birthday, had been judged more than ready to take part in the Rite of Succession, and accept my place at the forefront of Empress Somnea's armies.

But it was not meant to be.

Even now, I do not know how the Negaverse knew the Rite of Succession would be our weakest moment. I can only assume someone within the Royal Court gave them access to this information. However they got it, they acted upon it in what I would learn to be classic Negaverse speed.

Traditionally, the Rite was to be held in the Great Hall of the Palace of each separate region, though my mother had noted some concern on Empress Somnea's part about two of the Senshi-to-be, and had expressed her wish that they be mantled in her own Throne Room. With my own, ceremony, though, nothing would be out of place.

My mother had spent weeks pouring her powers, her knowledge, into our family's talisman, a silver circlet studded with black onyx gems. By the end of the Rite, she was Senshi no longer, simply a woman, for all her regal bearing and commanding presence. But I revered her no less. She was on the verge of calling me forth, to complete the cycle of power, when the doors burst open, and the Negaforce's dark army flooded the Keep. Our guardsmen fought furiously, but with each monster that was slain, a score would take their place. The tide of battle turned quickly, and within moments, it was a massacre. My mother and I had been captured, and we both fought desperately against the clawed hands that threatened to crush our arms. For a moment, she was free, and had just enough time to her the circlet at me, before being dragged out of the Hall.

I don't remember screaming. I don't remember breaking free. I don't even remember leaping to catch the focal point for all our family's power.

The next memory I would have was the chill touch of metal around my head. I did not hear the din of battle raging around me. I only heard the whispers of long-passed ancestors, as incantations flooded into my mind. Spells to bring slumber to masses, spells to restore shattered minds, spells to traverse countless miles with the aid of the other Senshi.

But they were wiped away in an instant, by my thirst for revenge. These creatures, these... monsters, had taken everything I had loved and trusted in life. My soul cried out for their blood, and I would not be slowed.

A new spell began to shape itself in my mind. An answer to my call. I placed my hands together, and followed the incantation with my thoughts.

_Fell enemies of the Dreaming, you have destroyed our sanctity._ I felt a ball of aching coldness begin to form between my hands, forcing them apart. I looked down, to see nothing but a swirling darkness limning my hands, an energy so black it seemed to consume the very light around it.

_We are overrun, we are slain, but we are not defeated. Savor your triumph, for it will soon wither and die with you._ The energy trembled in my hands, pulsing like a thing alive, straining toward its purpose. All around me, the sounds of battle died, as monster and guardsmen alike halted, to watch a woman, barely grown out of childhood, strain to control the terrible blackness in her hands.

_Judgment is passed, and your sentence, death. Now, you will know the fury of the Lotus Clan, the fury of..._

_Of..._

I lurched to my feet, holding my arms straight up, the ball of light-eating energy aloft in my hands like some terrible trophy of battle. Here and there, I saw the eyes of my guardsmen lower, knowing what would come next. They understood. They would have their vengeance, as well. With new resolve, I screamed, the final words of the spell resounding throughout the keep.

"TEN THOUSAND THORNS!"

Darkness exploded over the room. The energy I had summoned had burst in a wave of countless shards of killing darkness, scything through the Great Hall, and wiping it clean of every living thing. The screams of the monsters as they were cut down were terrible, painful... and glorious to my ears. I watched the invading army fall as one to my spell, and sunk to my knees. I could not have been more pleased, and wept tears of joy, surrounded by death. I had avenged my mother.

It was not over.

I felt another clawed hand cover my mouth, as more soldiers stormed the keep. Even as I was bound and carried away, I did not struggle. Had I the energy to, I don't think I would have, anyway. I had failed, and my heart was shattered.

I was taken back to the Negaverse, and presented to Queen Beryl, who informed me that my mother, the mothers of all the other Senshi, as well as Empress Somnea, were her prisoners. If we did not swear loyalty to her, and her alone, they would all die, helplessly locked in crystal and murdered without even being able to draw breath.

You can guess the rest, I assume.

My name was Akiyo Natsume. Once I was to be Senshi Black Lotus, guardian of the sleeping dreamers. But, no more.

Now, I am the black Senshi of Revenge.


	2. Prologue, II: Nightmare Sonata

Sailor Moon V: The Star Dreamers

Prologue

Chapter 2: Nightmare Sonata

I'm sorry. I'm not very good at writing. My talent has always been music. The piano. A few moment at the keys, and I could show you the full scope of the horrors that were burned into my memory that night. But, Akiyo says we must write letters, instead. So I will try.

Our family's protectorate was the Waking Plains. My mother, Senshi Nyami, was stern and demanding. She worked hard every day, pushing, driving her people to success, never asking more from them than she asked of herself. From her people, she wanted success, and she acheived it. From her daughter, though, her heiress... She wanted nothing less than absolute perfection.

I'm sad to say, I could not be the daughter she wanted.

By the time I was thirteen, both my mother and I knew that in her eyes, I was sorely lacking in what was needed to ensure Empress Somnea's safety, and lead our protectorate. I was no swordswoman, no archer... I was at home behind a keyboard, not the vanguard of a charging army. I found more solace wrapped in my music, than crouching behind a shieldwall. My mother saw this, knew this, and her rage was terrible. In tones of deepest disgust, she told me that my brother would be the one to take the mantle of Guardian, that I could keep to my music and rot in all the langour I desired.

But, she was my mother, and for that alone, I loved her.

On the day that my brother was to assume his duties, I was there. I watched, as my proud, proud mother relinquished the power that had given her dominion over the vast plains of our home without a word. I watched as she laid all her authority at the feet of her youngest child, a man barely out of his teens. The intricate, golden Serpent Band, our family's ancestral talisman, laid at my brother's feet, waiting only for the brave knight to take it up.

And then, the wonder was lost. Senshi Hakomo cried out, calling to defend against some terrible danger. But even as the guardsmen scrabled to respond, the doors of Empress Somnea's hall were sundered, and a tide of monsters more terrible than any created by the Nightmare Horde came flooding in. My brother... My valiant brother, cut down by a bolt of light before he could even join the battle... My mother, dragged away, shrieking, struggling... I saw them do these things, as I saw them slaughter countless more for the sheer joy of the kill.

I saw these things, because I had hid beneath a table in the corner.

Time became fractured, memory leaping from one moment to another like light dancing over the falling shards of a broken mirror. I had no clear memory of the battle, only a confused din of swords, claws, screams, and the thick stench of blood, natural and unnatural.

I do remember jerking as something cold and metallic touched my hand. I drew back, fearful that I had been discovered, and trembled as the chill metal flowed up my arm in a sinuous river, as of enchanted water. It would around my arm, and grew still, and then I knew. Then I knew...

The Serpent Band.

It had chosen me.

With that knowledge came the flood. Information, spells, memories, all of it crashed into my mind, filling me with a power beyond anything I had ever known before. All the magic that centuries of my ancestors had given form, given life, was in my hands, for me alone.

I could throw the entire Hall into darkness so complete it could almost be touched.

I could weave illusions as real as life itself.

I could summon a shield that would repel any attack at all.

All these things I did.

But I could not stop them.

They were simply too many.

My illusions were torn through, the claws of the monsters determining reality for them. The blackness was little solace, for they pressed closer, and struck out blindly, not caring whose blood they spilled. And my shield did little more than tell them what they needed to know, where their target was... And I could not hold it forever. There was simply no escape. I was captured, bound, and carried off.

Perhaps I could have resisted, sacrificed all our lives to avoid living in servitude to my enemies. I think mother would have liked that, found peace in that thought. But, I am not my mother. I am a coward, and I would do anything to save her life. I suppose I already have...

My name is Tsuchi Kamaharu. I could have been Senshi Nightshade, guardian of the night, keeper of the lost.

But I have failed.

Now, I am the dark Senshi of Fear.


End file.
